10/2/2011 8:34:19 PM
SPIRITUAL DIARY
My Worship Time Focus: He exhorted the queen
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Ester 4:10-14
Message of the verses: “10 Then Esther spoke to Hathach and ordered him to reply to Mordecai: 11 "All the king’s servants and the people of the king’s provinces know that for any man or woman who comes to the king to the inner court who is not summoned, he has but one law, that he be put to death, unless the king holds out to him the golden scepter so that he may live. And I have not been summoned to come to the king for these thirty days." 12 They related Esther’s words to Mordecai. 13 Then Mordecai told them to reply to Esther, "Do not imagine that you in the king’s palace can escape any more than all the Jews. 14 "For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place and you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not attained royalty for such a time as this?"
Dr. Wiersbe took a long time to write his commentary on this section, as this section has probably the most important and most famous verse in the entire book of Ester. The highlighted phrase above is what I am speaking of and in that phrase we will see that there are many things that come out of it including the sovereignty and providence of God. I will be quoting some of the commentary that Dr. Wiersbe has written on this section as it is very rich and will perhaps unlock some questions that people have about the issues that will be written about from this portion of Scripture.
It is hard to determine whether or not Ester was trying to make light of what was happening as far as the law that would kill all of her people, but she may have just been reminding Mordecai the rules of the palace and what it took to get into see the king. She surely could have lost her life by going into the king unannounced for that was just the way that these kings in that part of the world at that time of the world operated.
As mentioned in yesterday’s SD we see Hathach as an important character in this drama. It has been suggested that it is possible that he was a Jew and therefore has as much at stake in all of this as Ester and Mordecai had. We see throughout this book the wisdom of God in having the right people in the right places to do the right things, and only God with the great and awesome wisdom that He posses could have worked this out, for God works through both those who are unbelievers as well as believers to bring about His plan on earth.
I am sure that Mordecai knew the promise that God gave to Abraham in Genesis 12:1-3, yet even though this would give him confidence that God would work this out he still knew that he had to be a part of all of this in order to help save the Jews from being completely destroyed as a people.
“As you ponder Mordecai’s words, you will learn some basis truths about the providence of God that are important for Christians today. The first is that God has divine purposes to accomplish in this world.” This is important to understand for some think that this world was created by God only to let it kind of unwind on its own, something that the Bible does not say at all.
“Mordecai made it clear that God accomplishes His purposes through people. For reasons we don’t fully understand, God permits wicked people to do evil things in this world; but He can work in and through unbelievers and His own people to accomplish His purposes. While He was not the author of his sins, God permitted the king’s drunkenness and his foolishness in deposing Vashti. He used the king’s loneliness to place Ester on the throne; and, in chapter 6, he will use the king’s sleeplessness to reward Mordecai and start to overthrow the power of Haman. In great things and little things, God is sovereign.”
The third truth that Mordecai emphasized was that God will accomplish His purposes even if His servants refuse to obey His will. If Ester rejected the will of God for her life, God could still save His people; but Ester would be the loser.”
“The forth lesson from Mordecai’s speech is that God isn’t in a hurry but will fulfill His plans in due time.” Dr. Wiersbe now quotes from A. W. Tozer’s book “Knowledge of the Holy” two times: The mighty liner of God’s sovereign design keeps its steady course over the sea of history. God moves undisturbed and unhindered toward the fulfillment of those eternal purposes which He purposed in Christ Jesus before the world began.” “In the moral conflict now raging around us whoever is on God’s side is on the winning side and cannot lose; whoever is on the other side is on the losing side and cannot win.”
I must mention that this book “The Knowledge of the Holy” is a great book to read and ponder as you read it.
Spiritual meaning for my life today: There are two things that I can take away from this section and that is first of all Mordecai knew that God had promised Abraham that He would care for and bless the Jews and that He would curse those who tried to destroy them. Knowing this did not stop Mordecai from acting but it prompted him to act.
Second is that this section teaches me more about learning to be content, for knowing that God is in control and has a plan and even uses me in that plan give me great confidence in my quest to learn contentment.
My Steps of Faith for Today:
1. Learn promises from God’s Word in order to pray them back to the Lord when they are relevant in my life.
2. Continue to learn contentment.
10/2/2011 9:29:21 PM
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